Sailing In Style
Danger: Heartbreak ahead!Piper Brindle has spent her entire adult life trying to live down the stigma of her family’s checkered history. The one bright spot was Cy Franco, the talented California designer with the surfer-boy looks. She ended up only breaking his heart. Now an acting gig on the historic River King reunites her with the guy she pushed away. She knows she doesn’t deserve him, but how can she pretend she’s immune to Cy’s charms? As her past explodes into her present, Piper knows they can never have a future together. But with their irresistible chemistry drawing them even closer than before, how will she be able to walk away a second time?
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Danger: Heartbreak ahead!
Piper Brindle has spent her entire adult life trying to live down the stigma of her familyâs checkered history. The one bright spot was Cy Franco, the talented California designer with the surfer-boy looks. She ended up only breaking his heart. Now an acting gig on the historic River King reunites her with the guy she pushed away. She knows she doesnât deserve him, but how can she pretend sheâs immune to Cyâs charms? As her past explodes into her present, Piper knows they can never have a future together. But with their irresistible chemistry drawing them even closer than before, how will she be able to walk away a second time?
âYouâre asking me to do the impossible.â
Something in Cyâs tone thrilled Piper. She saw a spark in his eyes, a determined lift to his chin.
What would it be like to believe everything would work out right?
She meant to tie the balloons and tiptoe away, ignoring the tug that seemed to suggest she should help. Help the guy who would never forgive her for dumping him?
Her sandal caught on a chair leg and she stumbled, letting go of the balloons. They drifted lazily up to the ceiling.
Cy didnât hesitate. He put his hands around her waist.
She felt the press of his cheek into her back, the strong arms spanning her middle as he raised her up toward the balloons. His embrace rocketed her back in time, and she was lost in memories of laughter and love and joy when sheâd briefly believed in the impossible, too.
Have you ever wanted to sail away from your worries? Me, too. I guess thatâs why it was so enticing to write about a historic paddle-wheel steamboat. Though the fictional River King doesnât ply the waters anymore, sheâs a reminder of an elegant time when people put aside their cares and paddled along the California waterways. In preparation to write this book, I had the pleasure of touring the Delta King, a beautiful old paddle wheel docked in Sacramento. I met the gracious Coyne family, who saw the loveliness in this regal vessel even when she was nearly wrecked and has painstakingly brought her back to life.
Isnât that what romance is all about? Seeing the beauty in someone in spite of the scars? Cy and Piper certainly have some damage to overcome, but what better place to attempt it than an old boat docked outside the sleepy little town of Tumbledown!
Thank you for coming along with me on this journey. I hope you enjoyed the trip! Iâm always happy to hear from my readers via my website, danamentink.com, or my Facebook and Twitter pages. Thereâs also a physical address on my website if youâd rather correspond by mail. Thank you again for taking the time to sail along with Cy and Piper.
Fondly,
DANA MENTINK lives in California, where the weather is golden and the cheese is divine. Her family includes two teen girls (affectionately nicknamed Yogi and Boo Boo). Papa Bear retired from the fire department, and he met Dana while they were doing a dinner theater production of The Velveteen Rabbit. Ironically, their parts were husband and wife.
Dana is an American Christian Fiction Writers Book of the Year finalist for romantic suspense and a two-time Carol Award winner. Her suspense novel, Betrayal in the Badlands, earned an RT Reviewersâ Choice Best Book Award. She enjoys writing for Harlequinâs Love Inspired line, Harlequin Heartwarming and Harvest House. Besides writing, she busies herself teaching third grade. Mostly, she loves to be home with Papa Bear, Yogi, Boo Boo, a dog with social anxiety problems, a chubby box turtle and a feisty parakeet.
To the Coyne family,
who brought life back to the Delta King.
Contents
THE OLD RIVERBOAT rocked gently under Cy Francoâs feet, and he wished they were bare instead of pinched inside shoes so ridiculously shiny they dazzled the eye.
Weddings. He used to love them, everything from the gorgeous decor down to the vegetable crudités. Funny how flinging an engagement ring into the ocean could take away his enthusiasm for all things matrimonial.
Nevertheless, his sister Rosaâs wedding ceremony was complete, and he hadnât dropped the rings or said anything too sappy for the toast. A great accomplishment since his duties encompassed being both best man to his new brother-in-law, Pike, and attendant to his sister, Rosa. The word unorthodox didnât even begin to cover it, but it was done and they were hitched. The blissful couple would soon be off to honeymoon someplace tropical for a month. Mission accomplished, in spite of the last-minute change of venue. His sister deserved her happily-ever-after. Her face, so suffused with love and happiness as she whispered her âI do,â had been perfection, but still Cy couldnât help but think the one thing that would have made it even better was his mother living to see it.
